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Course Registration Process 2023-2024
Incoming 6th Graders (Current 5th Graders)
Course Requests open at 7 a.m. on Feb. 6 and closes at 7 a.m. on Feb. 13, 2023.
Students and families will access this through Skyward, using the student account access. Instructions for how to use the Skyward tool, how to choose classes, and other information may be found in the PowerPoint linked below. Families should also download the 6th-Grade Course Planning Sheet and use the guidance below to guide their decisions in making these requests.
Selecting Middle School Courses
Transitioning from elementary to middle school is an exciting step and the first opportunity for families to make decisions about their student's academic course selections. 5th Graders will choose an elective class that interests them, such as band, chorus, orchestra, or an exploratory course of art, STEM, and leadership skills. Some students may also opt for accelerated pathways in one or more core subjects. Families should read about class options and academic pathways on our Course Descriptions webpage.
The accelerated options in middle school Language Arts, Math, and Science are intended for those students whose personal goals, interests, and abilities would benefit from these options. Families interested in Advanced Language Arts, or skipping a year of science or math content should consider the following guidance:
Students choosing advanced/accelerated courses should:
- Have particular interests and aspirations in that course of study.
- Have excellent study habits and organizational skills.
- Have strong communication and reading skills for engaging with rigorous material.
- Demonstrate motivation, maturity, perseverance, and stamina for learning challenging material.
- Be active participants in all aspects of the classroom, including discussions, group or individual projects, and labs.
- Consider the increased time commitment to studies outside of the school day (please think about all responsibilities, including sports, music, and club affiliations).
- Consider the possibility that grades could be lower than if students took the typical course sequence(s).
- Consider the possibility that by skipping courses in math and science they may have some gaps in content knowledge.
This is an important decision for students and families. In Language Arts, this decision will be made yearly. For math and science, once a student starts a path above grade level, it may not be possible to change course without repeating content. Below is additional information to consider as you make your course selections.
Advanced Language Arts |
Math Pathway C CC7/8 Math Readiness Criteria |
Science Pathway 2 |
---|---|---|
2022 SBA ELA score: Level 4 |
2022 SBA Math score: Level 4 Common Core 6 Mastery Assessment: 80% or higher |
2022 SBA Math score: Level 4 Common Core 6 Mastery Assessment: 80% or higher |
Report Card Grades in Reading and Writing: 4 |
Report Card Grades in Math: 4 |
Report Card Grades in Math: 4 Reading and Writing:4 |
i-Ready reading score in 5th grade above 4.00 and reading above grade level |
i-Ready math score above 4.00 and working at a 7th-grade level |
i-Ready math score above 4.00 and working at a 7th-grade level |
The sections below provide more information to consider when choosing middle school math and science placement. These readiness criteria are designed to serve as a guide. Students do not have to meet the readiness criteria in order to select a more advanced or accelerated pathway.
Families should also be aware that high school level courses will automatically be added to the student’s transcript, in accordance with District Regulation 2410. Students can request to have the course transcribed only for credit toward graduation and not include the grade in the student’s high school GPA calculation. Students can also request to have these credits removed completely from their transcript. Please note that once the grades and/or credits are deleted from the high school transcript, the grade and credit cannot be added back and will permanently be excluded from the student’s grade point average. This will impact students that follow Math Pathway B or C and students that choose Science Pathway 2.
- Requesting Courses and General Information
- 6th Grade Core Course Options
- Math and Science Pathways
- 6th Grade Course Request Planning Sheet
- How to Add Courses in Family/Student Access Instructions
Requesting Courses and General Information
6th Grade Core Course Options
Our school offers the opportunity for students to self-select core courses in English Language Arts (ELA), Math, and Science for 6th grade. Students should choose the courses that best align to their interests and future aspirations. Some courses offer more challenging coursework, which requires personal motivation and strong work habits. For some courses, ISD offers recommended levels of performance on the SBA or i-Ready assessments to ensure students have the academic knowledge and skills to be set up for success.
For ELA, students choose either English Language Arts 6 or Advanced Language Arts 6. Advanced English Language Arts is a program for students which provides additional challenge and rigor in the areas of reading, writing, speaking, listening and language. Visit our Advanced ELA 6 website to see if this course is the best fit for you.
For Math, students choose one of 4 math pathways. Visit our middle school mathematics webpage to learn more about the math course offerings.
For Science, students choose from the 6th grade Science Pathway I, which starts with Life Science, or Science Pathway II, which skips Life Science and begins with students taking the 7th grade science course, Earth and Space Science. Visit our middle school science webpage to learn more about these options and see which is the best fit for you.
Math and Science Pathways
Choosing your pathway.
The information below provides more details to help you choose your math pathway.
Math
Math Pathway A: Students choosing this pathway will focus on depth and proficiency of grade level standards. Pacing of new concepts will match recommendations in the Washington State Standards. This pathway maximizes support for math learning. Students choosing this pathway may prefer to take time on a topic to develop depth of understanding and practice skills for mastery with support from their teacher.
Math Pathway B: Students choosing this pathway will receive a compacted curriculum for MS Math 1 through MS Math 3. Compacting is designed to focus on the development, depth and proficiency of pre-algebra skills to ensure readiness for Algebra. This pathway provides a more challenging pace of learning new concepts and applications. Students choosing this pathway should have a strong understanding of 5th grade math content. Receiving 3's (meeting expectation or standard) on past report cards, the state assessment (SBA) and/or i-Ready Math would indicate a strong understanding of math standards. Additionally, students choosing Math Pathway B should have an interest in a challenging math course, and be ready to work hard, persisting when encountering difficult math tasks.
Math Pathway C: This pathway SKIPS 6th grade math and joins 7th grade students who took 6th grade math at their middle school. Students choosing this pathway should have a strong understanding of 6th grade math content including the following:
- Mentally (without paper) multiply numbers between 0 and 12, quickly and accurately
- Mentally add, subtract and divide most single and double-digit numbers, positive and negative
- Divide multi-digit numbers without a calculator
- Plot ordered pairs on the coordinate plane in all four quadrants
- Divide two fractions
- Quickly and easily reduce fractions, convert mixed numbers to improper fractions, and convert improper fractions to mixed numbers
- Solve ratio and rate problems
One indicator for readiness for pathway C is that the student is working or scoring at the 7th grade level, or scoring above a 4.00 in i-Ready math and each math domain or topic. You can self-assess your understanding of 6th grade content online here.
Math pathway D: A Placement test is required for this pathway, for more information visit the ISD Path D webpage.
Science
Science Pathway 1: Students choosing this pathway will focus on depth and proficiency of grade level standards. Pacing of new concepts will match recommendations in the Washington State Standards. This pathway maximizes support for science learning. Students choosing this pathway may prefer to take time on a topic to develop depth of understanding and practice skills for mastery with support from their teacher.
Science Pathway 2: Science Path II provides students with a science pathway to skip a year of science content to take a high school level course in 8th grade. This may be an appropriate placement for your student. Students choosing this pathway should have strong reading and math skills and be reading at least two grade levels above standard. Please consider your students reading and math scores in i-Ready. One indicator for readiness for this pathway is that the student is working or scoring above grade level, or scoring above a 4.00 in i-Ready math and ELA.
Questions
Please visit our Middle School Curriculum Pathways webpage, talk with your child's teacher and/or school counselor or contact Lena Jones, Secondary Specialist, or Dawn Wallace, Director of Teaching and Learning.
6th Grade Course Request Planning Sheet
After reviewing the CRP PowerPoint, taking recommendations into consideration, and deciding on the appropriate level courses and elective for your student, circle the courses you plan to take below. Use this as your guide for requesting your courses in Student Access. Keep this sheet as a record of your choices.
Note: Remember, once you choose your core class and elective, you will remain in the class all three trimesters of the school year. If you enter advanced courses, you are acknowledging you have reviewed the criteria and determined these are the appropriate classes for your student.
Your Student Access and Login and password is printed on the sticker above. Instructions for setting up your Student Access account and entering your requests into Student Access are attached.
DUE DATE FOR ENTERING COURSE REQUESTS IS - 7:00 a.m. Monday, February 13, 2023
PERIOD |
TRIMESTER 1 A |
TRIMESTER 2 B |
TRIMESTER 3 C |
|
---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
all students take |
Homeroom 6 A |
Homeroom 6 B |
Homeroom 6 C |
2 |
all students take |
PE 6 A |
Health 6 B |
PE 6 C |
3 |
all students take |
Social Studies 6 A |
Social Studies 6 B |
Social Studies 6 C |
4 |
circle Language Arts choice |
Language Arts 6 A Advanced Language Arts 6 A |
Language Arts 6 B Advanced Language Arts 6 B |
Language Arts 6 C Advanced Language Arts 6 C |
5 |
circle Math choice |
Math 1 A Math 1/2 A CC Math 78 A Other A |
Math 1 B Math 1/2 B CC Math 78 B Other B |
Math 1 C Math 1/2 C CC Math 78 C Other C |
6 |
circle Science choice |
Life Science A (Path 1) Earth Space Science A (Path 2) |
Life Science B (Path 1) Earth Space Science B (Path 2) |
Life Science C (Path 1) Earth Space Science C (Path 2) |
7 |
circle elective choice |
Band, Brass A Band, Woodwinds A Beginning Orchestra A Chorus 6 A OR Exploratory Art 6 |
Band, Brass B Band, Woodwinds B Beginning Orchestra B Chorus 6 B OR Intro to Leadership 6 |
Band, Brass C Band, Woodwinds C Beginning Orchestra C Chorus 6 C OR STEM Sampler |
How to Add Courses in Family/Student Access Instructions
This is the process for requesting courses for the next school year in Student Access. Students can complete the Online Course Request Process by logging into Family/Student Access on the school or district website.
To begin the Online Course Request Process, sign in to Student Access.
If you need your password reset, please contact IMS registrar Joni Apman.
To Add Requests
- From the Home tab, select Schedule from the menu on the left.
- From the Schedule screen, click on View Available Courses for 2023-2024.
- From the courses available on the left, click on a class you would like to select. Once the class is highlighted, click Add Course. Depending on the school, you may already see courses that you have been preregistered for in the Selected Courses box.
- Once the course has been added, it will be visible in the Selected Courses column and you will see the total number of credits selected. Continue this process until you have added all your courses. The Total Credits will vary per school and grade level.
To Add Alternatives
- After all Course Requests have been made, click on Request Alternates at the top of the page.
- All courses that were previously selected as requests have been given the priority R and cannot be changed from this page. To select an alternative course, click on a course from the left side of the screen and click Add Course.
- When more than one course is added, the course priority can be set by clicking on the green arrow keys to move the courses up and down in the list. You can add up to the maximum number of assigned courses, which will be visible at the bottom of the screen and will vary by school.
To Finish Course Request Process:
- When all of the alternative courses have all been selected, click the X in the top right corner of the window to save the Course Requests and end your session. You may reenter this program to change your requests at any time during the Course Request time frame.